The Sun Also Rises Essay -- essays research papers

The Sun Also Rises   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, Jake Barnes is a lost man who wastes his life on drinking. Towards the beginning of the book Robert Cohn asks Jake, â€Å"Don’t you ever get the feeling that all your life is going by and you’re not taking advantage of it? Do you realize that you’ve lived nearly half the time you have to live already?† Jake weakly answers, â€Å"Yes, every once in a while.† The book focuses on the dissolution of the post-war generation and how they cannot find their place in life. Jake is an example of a person who had the freedom to choose his place but chose poorly. This point of Jake’s life is centered on readjusting himself to normal life after World War I. Jake is lost and doesn’t know what to do. He has a few friends w...

Iraq War and Osama bin Laden Essay

The United States of America has failed in its endeavors with Iraq. Looking at the current situation in Iraq, there were so little, or no improvement at all ever since America waged a war on â€Å"terrorism,† pointing the finger to Iraq. When it was planned to train Iraqi soldiers so that they could â€Å"defend† themselves, leaving them to the hard work in their own backyard, one thing has been overlooked. Training a small population of Iraqi’s to defend or fight for their welfare is not the solution, hence it could further lead to something worse. It is only adding fuel to the fire, igniting the civil war Iraq is experiencing in its backyard (Bereuter, 2004). It will only increase the horrifying truth of the Iraq war, and its negative effects on the humans – death, starvation, poverty, and hatred of its own countrymen. It also has its toll on economy, pestering both Americans and Iraqis. There are various variables to consider when you talk about this war. These are the dependent and independent variables. The first variable that is a proof of the war’s failure was the increasing death toll. It is a rather dependent variable on the war because it is directly affected by the war itself. The military death toll have greatly increased, wasting the precious lives of the soldiers willing to do any of the President’s bidding. Non-Iraqi workers and contractors death toll has also doubled, bringing fear in the hearts of those who wish to work in there. The insurgencies and Iraqi resistance has then risen in a great number of times since the war has started. Death is the biggest price that both sides will pay in this Iraqi war. Roughly a lot of Iraqis have died defending their country – or fleeing it. U. S. -trained Iraqi police and National Guards were unable to protect the people, to provide safety for everyone, as it was promised by the United States government. On the other hand, not only were the United States losing the war in Iraq, they are also losing precious lives of the soldiers fighting for a lost cause. More than a thousand American soldiers and their families have suffered the consequences of the Iraq war. If death wasn’t enough, it also caused a tragic change in the economy of both countries. Both countries have increasing number of bodies being piled on the ground. Another dependent variable is insurgency. It is a consequence of the United States’ campaign on Iraq. Many people decided to take arms and fight US instead of helping peace to prosper. Insurgency has grown stronger than ever, as it can be seen on the number of deaths and losses from both ends. As the U. S. continues to stay in the Iraqi backyard, the more these Iraqi insurgents would mass up and attack people, the more the problem will continue for Iraq and the US, just like an incurable headache. The Pentagon points out that in November 2003, there were only about 5,000 Iraqi insurgents. But as of September 2004, the number of these people have blown out 400% – 20,000. And considering that the number of dead Iraqi resistance fighters were around 24,000, the grim fact is that it is even larger in reality (Lieberman, 2005). An independent variable of the United States war against Iraq was the impact on economy. It is a rather independent factor that you consider because it is not connected to the so called â€Å"campaign against terror. † But whether people like it or not, war has affected the economic situation of the country and the whole world. Not only was this war wasting precious lives, it is also wasting hard-earned money. About 151 billion U. S. dollars went down the drain as the cost of this war continually increases. The money which came from America’s taxpayer’s pockets are surprisingly being wasted on bullets, guns and ammunitions, vehicles, and more, considering that these things are being wasted, and have no real benefit as of late. Ending the war: the price for Osama’s head The United States, along with the United Nations and the European Union have resorted to a lot of efforts in order to solve this problem. This includes empowering a few chosen Iraqis to defend themselves and be able to start a new government. This effort has been considered futile since Iraq as a country is being plagued with internal conflicts – civil wars between various ethnic groups. So if you empower any of these groups, there is a tendency that they would just go against each other, so instead of solving the problem, you are giving them another blow in the head. Another effort which they had resorted to was hunting down the famous terrorist leader, Osama bin Laden (Kirkpatrick, 2004). As the Al Qaeda’s leader, he is considered to be one of the most influential heads of the Iraqi resistance. They think that killing him would mean victory in the Iraq war. They see that his presence – his very existence, is considered to be an encouragement for the Iraqi people to take arms and fight the â€Å"invaders† in their lands. Using the terrorist attacks in the country as an example of what this man can do, the United States government has waged an all out operative to search for bin Laden. The army literally bombarded the possible hiding places for Osama bin Laden, but still returning empty handed. Rumors about his death came out, but the lack of evidence has left the people doubting. What the United States overlooked was not Osama bin Laden is not the problem, so putting him out of the scene was definitely not the solution. Osama bin Laden was only a part, just a fraction of what the US government is up against with. He may be an influential leader, but still, there are other factors that they have to consider if they really want to end this war against Iraq. Iraq is in the middle of a very turbulent civil war; different groups in the country are fighting among themselves for survival, since each of them claims that they can’t live with any of the other groups. It is a communal war, wherein they are slugging it out with other groups; Sunnis fighting against Shiites, Kurds against Sunnis, and Shiites against Kurds (Diamond, 2006). In these groups there are other minorities fighting on multiple front, thus making the war complex. Osama bin Laden as a terrorist icon doesn’t necessarily prove much of an importance, since between these Iraqi’s lies greater conflicts. These conflicts could lead to mass slaughter, thus creating chaos in the global level.

Analyse your contribution to the selection process for the position of Classroom Assistant Essay

Assignment M2 In this assignment I will analyse the contribution of the interview and selection process that leads to the position of Classroom Assistant. I took part both as an interviewee and observer therefore I am able to compare how the different roles have contributed to the process. Before being selected through for the position, there are three stages that each applicant must face: the pre-interview, the interview itself and the post-interview. Each of these stages plays their part in allowing the employer to carefully select the potential candidate. Pre-interview When applying for a position or job role, it is essential that an application form is presented and that the candidate must meet the criteria as identified in the person specification in order that they have the required skills and qualifications to get offered the job. As an interviewee, I have completed an application form that describes my qualification and experience with children. It also has my information and previous employment as well as any disability or illnesses. It is important that all these details are included correctly so that the workplace can make necessary arrangements in order to deal with the situation. As important skills to work with children are needed, I included my communication and outgoing skills, as well as listening and understanding. I made sure that it was neatly represented and wrote it in black ink and block capitals. I was also able to meet essential criteria as I found them attached on the website and ensure that it was clear that I met the needs. As an interviewer it is important that the candidate come prepared and organized with a full interview pack that includes every piece of material requested from the interview panel. This will higher their chances to better opportunity and will also show the employer that they are committed and have what it takes to take on the role as a Classroom assistant. It is also  important that the interviewer gets a report from past references as so that he/she knows if you are capable for the job. References will recommend you for the position and will tell your employer what makes you a strong team member or weaknesses that you could possibly have. It is also important on what kind of interview gets chosen as a process of assessing candidates for this position. During our interview process, each candidate was able to get interviewed by the same interview panel and get asked the same amount of questions in the same way and then get assessed from there. This was possible because only 11 candidates had applied and therefore it was an easy process to carry out. Also because the observer is there to assess candidates, it is easier for the employer to pick who is really suitable for the assigned position. In the same way, there was no need to take aptitude tests or any kind of questioning as it couldn’t have been shorter listed. And because the interview was carried out by a professional who has been involved in recruitment for so long and know that requisites for the post there was no need for the process to be shortened. At the end of the process, one candidate has to be selected for the job post to be offered. This can be done in many ways, however as an interviewer, it is best to write a job offer letter because it is polite and formal and the candidate can more than likely receive it which also saves on time and costs. On the other hand, applicants who didn’t get through will get a job rejection letter instead. Interview This is the process where the interviewer has a formal meeting with the interviewee finding out why they want the post and what makes them a good staff member compared to the others. As an interviewee I needed to make a good impression to boost my chances by arriving early, dressing smart, showing my personality through being formal and smiling and stating why I would really love to work for them. It was also important that as an observer I made it clear that every detail  and personal information was going to be strictly confidential and that everybody had an equal and fair opportunity to get the job, therefore seating arrangements and questions were exactly the same for every interviewee and questions could not be asked by me to make interview unfair. I also needed to make sure that the interview was carried out in a Health and Safety policy environment free of any possible danger or harm that could be caused by equipment. An interview check-list is needed and useful for both sided of the interview panel as it contributes to the process because for the interviewee can know what needs to be included in the interview pack and provide necessary information while the observer or interviewer will use it as a method to ensure that all points they are looking for are being covered. This will also help control the interview because it is mannered and well organised and interviewers are able to control their time and decide what to say for each question. As an observer, notes were also taken to keep on track of the candidates’ performance in order for rank to be given at the end and meet the decision criteria and right documentation. Communication between the interviewer and interviewee is important because as an interviewee I had to make sure I was listening carefully to questions so that I could give the correct answers, however this was also made easy as I already had an interview questions document already prepared. This is also important because it showed the interviewer that I am capable of listening and communicating well therefore able to work under command and instructions given. I also used body language to make the interview more interactive and make more impression using eye contact with both the interviewer and observer which made them more interested to hear what I had to say. Questions that were used were all open questions which gave me the ability to explain and satisfy them with my answers. As an observer I noticed that communication between the candidate and interviewer were quite tense but body language tend to loosen the tension and make the interview more relaxing. I listened carefully to answers in order to take accurate notes and able to give feedback to the employer. The  candidate came across really clear and I was able to notice that they were confident in their position and therefore it helped with the process even more. Post-interview After the interview, this is the final stage of the process in which some candidates are rejected and others are offered the post. It is also referred as recruitment because the candidates are gives a response based on their interview and therefore then judgement is made as to who gets picked. I informed candidates about their interview giving them feedback on what were their strong points and weak points where they could have improved via phone call. This makes it seem more professional as it shows the interviewee that the employer is making effort in reaching them and sending them their best of wishes for their future career. As an interviewee feedback will be used as a way of improvement for the next job offers and interviews coming ahead. However before candidates could be informed if they were unsuccessful, a job offer was made to the applicant that was selected. This took place before rejection letters were sent out because if the selected candidate decides to refuse the offer because of lost of interest or new employment, then the employer would pick the next person in line that was likely to get offered. This will therefore save restarting the whole process again as the employer is assure that the selected candidate accepts the offer before telling the others that they weren’t as successful and did not meet their standards. As an observer I also asked for feedback from the candidates who apply as to hear from them how the process could have been improved and what changes could be done for next time. I took all answers into consideration as it will give better opportunities to other candidates to make a successful interview. I would also check the selected candidate’s reference to hear their point of view on the candidate.

Naturalism in Stephen Crane’s “A God in Wrath” Essay

The 1880s to the 1940s marks a period in American Literature known as Realism and Naturalism. This was the time when most literary works reflected the ideas of pessimism and determinism, and where events and even God oppose human free will or remain indifferent to human desires. One author and poet of this era was Stephen Crane. Crane published â€Å"A God in Wrath† in 1905 in a collection of poems called The Black Rider and Other Lines. The poem, which is about a god torturing a man, reflects the recurring theme of naturalism with instances of pessimism, determinism, and detachment. Naturalism in â€Å"A God in Wrath† Pessimism. Pessimism, or the seeming inevitability of the occurrence of negative events, fills every line of the â€Å"A God in Wrath. † In the poem, the very fact that a god is punishing the man is perhaps the greatest indication of pessimism considering that no man can ever be greater than a god. Therefore, no man can ever escape a god’s wrath and so a man who is suffering from it will surely suffer till the end. Indeed nothing can be more pessimistic than that. One particular line, â€Å"He cuffed him loudly† (Crane), indicates that the man is bound and has no chance of escape ever. Moreover, one should take note that these cuffs are put by a god and therefore impossible to get rid of. Also, the cuffs are in the form of â€Å"thunderous blows that rang and rolled over the earth† (Crane). This means that these are not just simple shackles that simply require a key to remove but that they are as complicated as they are difficult to detach. Perhaps one more indication of pessimism in the poem is the presence of a crowd of people who are not shown to help the man, or are portrayed as helpless creatures that do nothing but observe and add to the man’s injury by saying â€Å"Ah, what a wicked man! † (Crane). The man in â€Å"A God in Wrath† is already in deep suffering when â€Å"All people came running† (Crane). Nevertheless, although he â€Å"screamed and struggled† (Crane), the crowd, instead of helping him, condemns him more by calling him wicked. In real life, one can see people who not only ignore those who ask for their help but even regard them as evil. Such is the picture of the society that Crane may have wanted to show through the element of pessimism in the poem. Determinism. Determinism in â€Å"A God in Wrath† centers around the idea that the man has no choice but to accept the wrath of god and eventually his own fate. The whole poem is a testament to the absence of free will as indicated in the man’s useless struggle to escape. Man’s free will is figuratively strangled when the god â€Å"cuffed him loudly† (Crane) and that although he â€Å"screamed and struggled† (Crane), which means that he wants to assert himself and his free will, no help arrives and there is no escape. Perhaps the man’s last chance of escape is the people who â€Å"came running† (Crane), and maybe he smiles at the fact that all of them seem to come to his aid. Unfortunately, it seems that he is predestined to suffer and perhaps even die of his suffering when he finds out later on that the people who come running actually do nothing but say â€Å"Ah, what a wicked man! † (Crane). Crane here shows that no amount of screams and struggles from the man, or every man in general, can change the course of nature, the will of a god, or man’s destiny to suffer. Detachment. The stone-cold objectivity in Stephen Crane’s tone is felt in the poem in his use of such nameless characters as a god, a man, and all people. The absence of a capital â€Å"g† in â€Å"god,† except perhaps in the title, clearly indicates that this god is not necessarily the Christian God but perhaps any form of deity considered to be a symbol of cruel and inhuman dictatorship. It can even be religion itself which is shown here that makes man suffer. One can also see that in the poem, the man is unnamed, which means that it can represent any human being particularly those who seem to be experiencing a hopeless struggle. Lastly, the phrase â€Å"all people† (Crane) may represent everyone else in the world of the man who suffers. Also, the fact that all of them â€Å"came running† (Crane) tells us that they are united in their action, and that when they all together â€Å"cried, Ah, what a wicked man! † (Crane), one can see that people in general are wicked and often express their ridicule and cruelty in unison. On the whole, the element of detachment in Crane’s â€Å"A God in Wrath† tells us that the situation portrayed in the poem and its painful events are not exclusive to the characters in it but also to every suffering human being. Conclusion Stephen Crane’s â€Å"A God in Wrath† is a poem that portrays the elements of the era of Literary Realism and Naturalism, which include pessimism, determinism and detachment. Pessimism is reflected by man’s seemingly unending struggle with a god that is impossible to conquer and with people who are brutally indifferent to his suffering. Determinism is present in the lines that show that his fate seems inevitable and that no amount of struggle and will to survive may seem enough to free the man in the poem from his suffering. Finally, a sense of detachment is expressed by the fact that the characters in the poem are unnamed. Hence, this makes the particular literary work a mirror of what actually goes on in the life of every human being who suffers and how much pain he has to bear with the wrath of a cruel god and the inaction of his indifferent fellow humans. Works Cited Crane, Stephen. 2010. â€Å"A God in Wrath. † Stephen Maria Crane. Poemhunter. com. May 24, 2010. Crane, Stephen. â€Å"A God in Wrath. † Withered Arm and Other Stories. Ed. George Bess. New Jersey: Viking Penguin, 1999. Print.

A Soldier’s Conviction

You people must know that the life of army personnel is not an easy job. Our fingers bleed with the thorns of the branches that give us roses. We pay the penalties for the benefits that we accrue as army personals. The foremost reason for which I joined the army is the gift of honor and dignity that this job gives to the soldiers.From time immemorial nations distribute these gifts to the men who lay their lives for the sake of the glory of their country and for the safety and protection of the lives and wealth of their countrymen. I desired that gift and so I joined the army. I got it.My family has to bear the pangs of separation from me. Though they don’t work for the army but they suffer because I work for the army. The nature of my work takes me away from them for days on end.My son is just five years old, he loves me and feels proud of me for being an army personnel, but he wants to spend a great deal of time with her mother that she cannot afford for being an army personn el. He hates bad guys because he thinks that they are the reasons for which armies are given birth in this world.In army, people are not allowed to choose their dating partners of their will and liking. The routine of their job forbids them from doing so. My job doesn’t allow me to date with a civilian as he is not able to understand the hardships, problems and tight schedules of army life.We don’t have a big deal of spare time to spend in understanding our intended life-partners or friends. We are required to be ever ready to move at any time to any place.In this job we see people dying, wounded, brutally massacred and killed. These horrible scenes strongly affect our sensibilities and we suffer spiritually and mentally because of them. This job provokes us to mistrust the people and be ready for the worst. I have to follow so much rules and regulations in this life that I feel like a robot. I am so trained that I cannot mix and talk freely with the civilians.Yes, if you want job security and stability you can have it in army. It is a fact that now a days, in civilian jobs; people are sacked from the jobs on petty issues and small mistakes. In army we enjoy the stability of the job, as government stands guarantee, and we don’t fear that we might be kicked out on trifles.No doubt we, the soldiers, are made strong physically and mentally. I can dare to challenge anything in life because I am a soldier. We feel proud that we can be part of history by serving in operations. Take my example; I am a part of the history as serving in the operations against the Iraqi freedom AOR.My job made me eligible for many benefits such as low or zero markups on many different kinds of loans, many discounts and very attractive insurance policies. I get many traveling, dining and hoteling benefits. I enjoy many holidays here. My health is well taken care of for being army personnel. It is not just that they send you out in the field to die a dog’s deat h. They care you very well in the field as well as out of the field.No doubt army serves you well but disturbs you as well. Â  

IT capabilities transformation of cloud computing Essay

IT capabilities transformation of cloud computing - Essay Example Established organizations have strategic vision that drive their future direction offer guidance toward business strategies, which in turn drive the IT strategy useful in developing the enterprise architecture. This offers an organizing principle, which aligns the mission of the enterprise with its IT strategy and implementation plans. Cost flexibility and IT scalability in cloud computing Business organizations large and small all over the globe and in almost all industries embrace cloud computing as a means of reducing the difficulty and costs linked to conventional IT approaches. Cost flexibility is an essential reason many companies value adoption of cloud computing because cloud environment has the ability to decrease fixed IT costs and shift to variable cost structure. Cloud computing enable organizations to decrease fixed IT costs because it allows shift from expenses on resources to operational expenses. Capital expense in IT that often involves enterprise software licenses, servers and expensive networking equipment that are less fluid and hard to forecast compared to IT operating costs associated cloud computing. Therefore, cloud computing applications make the conventional hardware, software installation and dedicated software license fees redundant because cloud services allow an organization to shift costs from capital to operational costs. By adopting cloud environment, organizations pay only for what the organizations need when necessary; hence, this pay per use offer great flexibility and eradicates the desire for significant IT capital expenditure. Cost flexibility is an appealing attribute of cloud computing because apart from cost flexibility, cloud computing offer firms access to tool and computing power that would normally be affordable to large companies (Berman, et al, n.d). IT scalability is acknowledged as major benefit associated with cloud adoption; but for organizations, cloud offers more than mere IT scalability because it allows or ganizations to scale business operations as well. By offering quick provisioning of IT key resources with no scale restrictions, cloud computing enables organizations to gain from economies of scale without accomplishing large volumes of vital resources on their own. Apart from business scalability and cost flexibility offered by cloud, cloud computing also provides the advantage of masking complexity. Cloud computing provides businesses a means of hiding some complexities of their operation, which is helpful in attracting a broad scope of consumers. Since cloud computing veils complexity from end users, a company is able to expand product and service sophistication without increasing the level of knowledge within user regarding use or maintenance of the product or service. Convergence of enterprise architecture and cloud computing has enabled a shift from monolithic systems to multitier architecture. As service-orientation concepts become pervasive and popular, IT in enterprises fu lly embraces them in order to be flexible in its operations, offerings and outlook. With massive adoption of cloud computing, enterprises are changing themselves into on-demand, instant-on, lean and adaptive organizations. Cloud computing being an enterprise-class technology naturally merges and mingles with enterprise

Peter Berger's heretical imperative Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Peter Berger's heretical imperative - Essay Example According to Berger, pluralism presents the crisis into which modernity has exposed religion (Woodhead Heelas & Martin, 2001). Berger focuses on modernity and its implications on religion. The contemporary society is characterized by plurality of institutions, consciousness and choices, which yield uncertainty. According to Berger, pluralism is â€Å"a situation in which there is competition in the institutional ordering of comprehensive meanings of everyday life† (Oldmeadow, 2010, p.33). Because of uncertainty, there are unsteady, inconsistent and erratic plausibility structures, particularly those of religion. Berger argues that religion becomes a matter of choice, which he best refers to as a â€Å"heretical imperative† (heresy). According to Peter Berger, there are three contemporary responses to the crisis that modernity thrusts religion into, which include deduction, reduction as well as induction. Berger denounces deduction, which entails the reaffirmation of inf luence of a sacred ritual against secular authority (Esposito, Fasching & Lewis, 2011). He also rejects reductionism, which reinterprets a sacred ritual on the basis of secular authority. In rejecting the two responses, Berger supports the third approach, which is induction. His belief is that the crisis facing religion is a product of the sterile antithesis of neo-orthodoxy and secularism (Woodhead Heelas & Martin, 2001). He believes that by shunning both deductive and reductive approaches and adopting inductive approach, the crisis can be triumphed. Berger explores the relationship between human religion and world-building. The society is presented as dialectic because it is considered as a human invention. Man cannot exist without society and without man, society cannot exist. This exhibits the dialectic nature of the society. Berger argues that pluralism undermines stable belief (Berger, 1979). Pluralism is the cause of secularisation. According to Berger, the basic dialectic pr ocess of society entails three steps. These include externalisation, objectivation as well as internalisation. The three moments are crucial for effective comprehension of empirical dimension society. Externalisation refers to â€Å"the ongoing outpouring of human being into the world, both in the physical and the mental activity of men† (Berger, 1979, p. 4). Objectivation refers to the achievement by the products of man’s activity of an authenticity that faces its initial makers. Internalisation on the other hand, refers to men’s manipulation of reality, in which they change the reality into structures of objective and subjective consciousness. Externalisation is a prerequisite for anthropology. It deals with the biological development of man, where he interacts with extra-organic surrounding of both physical human worlds. Human being must create his own world. As such, the world-building activity does not qualify as a biological superfluous occurrence, but a d irect product of man’s biological composure. Man creates his own world through biological means. This human world is characterized by uncertainty unlike animals’ world. Because humanly established structures tend to be unstable, man creates culture to ensure stable structure that cannot be attained biologically. However, culture needs to be progressively changed by man. The instability of cultural structures posses a significant challenge to man’